


At the End of the War

by Opalgirl



Category: Tortall - Pierce
Genre: Community: 31_days, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-12
Updated: 2010-04-12
Packaged: 2017-10-08 21:42:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/79797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Opalgirl/pseuds/Opalgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shinko waits for Roald to return from the north, and Thayet keeps her company. Written for prompt #9 (the end of something) from 31_days at LiveJournal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	At the End of the War

The war finally comes to an end and the troops begin returning home in swathes; the men of the regular army and navy, the Riders and the Own, and even a handful of knights. Of her sons, Liam returns to Corus first, tanned and hardened from the fighting he saw near the Tyran border. Jasson follows and arrives two days after his brother, looking the worse for wear, for he saw some of the heaviest combat along the coast.

It doesn't escape Thayet that Shinko watches every time a new group of riders enters palace grounds, waiting for someone—Roald—to return. 

"He saw little combat," she tells her future daughter-in-law gently. "He'll come back in one piece." A dark part of her whispers that if the heir of the throne had died so close to Scanra, surely they would have heard of it. 

Shinko only turns away from the window and quickly flips her fan open in front of her face. "I dislike waiting," she says, in her softly accented voice. "But I wait for one and you have waited for three. I should not complain; he is not my son."

Thayet shakes her head and extends a hand to the Yamani princess. "It's a lovely afternoon," she says determinedly. "Shall we go for a ride?" Anything to distract Shinko from looking out of windows and looking so cursed lonely.

The younger woman's eyes crinkle around the edges in what passes for a smile among the Yamanis and she nods, bowing. 

***

A week after Jasson's return, a distinctive pattern of horn calls is heard. Thayet sets aside her papers, as Shinko rises slowly—lest it be thought that she is rushing anywhere—and goes to the window. She wipes at the pane with her palm and peers through it. "A standard-bearer carries His Royal Highness's personal colors," she says calmly.

Thayet joins her future daughter-in-law at the window and looks out. There it is: what is undoubtedly Roald's flag, different from the flags of his father and brothers, at the head of a column approaching the royal stables.

"I suppose we should do the appropriate thing and wait and greet him formally," she says dryly, "but it won't do, not this time. I'm going to see my son – are you coming, Shinko?"

When Roald dismounts, Thayet knows he doesn't even see her as his gaze fixes on Shinko. He strides across the courtyard to her and pulls her into his arms, the first such display she's seen from them. Shinko's arms instinctively lock about her betrothed's neck and her fan tumbles to the cobblestones. 

She can hear a whispered 'I missed you' from one of them and smiles. This should end any doubt from anyone about whether or not quiet Prince Roald loves his foreign betrothed.


End file.
